


A Collection of Ficlets

by clusband (orphan_account)



Category: Hiveswap
Genre: Character Study, Drabbles, Fluff, More characters and relationships to come, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-10-18 09:43:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17578520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/clusband
Summary: A collection of ficlets as requested from my tumblr.





	1. Marvus / Reader

_(Prompt was: Hair petting / Cheek kiss / Crawling into bed with)_

You wake, with a start, to the sun in your eyes.

Marvus grumbles from behind you, pulling you closer and trying to tuck your head under his chin in his sleep. You let out a quiet laugh at that- even in his sleep, he’s a very snuggly dude. You turn around in his hold and wake him gently up with a soft kiss to his neck, telling him that you needed to close the blinds. He lets out a huff at that, pouting before letting you out of his hold, and you stumble your way to the window on the far side of his room. You take a moment there, relishing in the quiet sounds of the wind outside and Marvus’s deep breathing from behind you. It’s serene here, at his hive. Or maybe it’s just him, the comfort and safety that he brings you by just being around. You remember him telling you that the sea isn’t far away, and you try your best to listen for the sounds of the waves.

After a few minutes of peaceful reflection, you turn around to join your matesprit in his coon. You startle once you realize he’s awake- he’s looking straight at you with a small, fond smile. You make your slow way over to him, striking a pose to make him laugh before gingerly stepping foot into the slime. It’s gotten cooler since you’ve stepped out- you guess that Marvus doesn’t really give off much body heat of his own. You reach out of the coon momentarily to turn on the slime heater for him, and it starts up with a gentle hum. Once you turn back to face him, he reaches out and you grab him by the forearms, drawing him to you. You nuzzle into his face as he lets out a quiet, content purr, and you smooth your thumbs over his cheek bones before kissing him- first, slowly and affectionately on the cheek (he smiles, wide and goofy at this), then softer against the side of his mouth, before pulling away slightly. He catches you with a hand to the back of your head before he brings his face to yours to kiss you properly and full on the mouth. It’s a chaste kiss, comfortable in the way that time and familiarity bring. You run your hand over his hair, smoothing down flyaways and running it through the tangles that have accumulated in his sleep. He always puts his hair up before he sleeps and his hair always, inevitably, makes its way out of the bun by nightfall. It’s a force to be reckoned with, truly. His purr is growing quieter as he finds his way back in your arms, his own arms circling around your waist, his lips at your jaw, kissing you tenderly before sleep takes him.

You bury your face in his hair, overjoyed and smiley and sleepy all mingling together. You nuzzle into his scalp, breathing in the scent of him while keeping him close and snuggled up against you, bumping your cheek briefly on the smooth keratin of his horn. You laugh to yourself over how ridiculous the sounds of his snores are (high pitched, wheezy), before you find your eyes getting heavy with sleep. You lace your fingers with his as you slowly fall asleep, listening for the sounds of the waves.


	2. Konyyl / Reader

It had started with a challenge, like all things do with Konyyl.

But now, as you understood, all of your posturing and bragging had earned you a date. Like a real, lets-spend-time-together date. So if you’re pacing a little bit, waiting for her, half worried at the prospect of waiting alone and half excited at the prospect of your date, well who could blame you?

Finally, you see her approach from a distance.

“you’re EARLY”

She gives you A Look. You laugh and explain your previous doubts in the omniscuttlebus schedule. You just... really didn’t want to be late. She scoffs at you affectionately before brushing past your shoulder, expecting you to follow. This is one of your favorite things about her- there’s no pretense here, she’s not trying to impress you (although, she does, she always does). She genuinely just wants to see you.

She talks for a bit about her clients that week as you walk together, expressing frustration at one for bailing on her (’as if she could get away THAT EASILY’), and bragging about how much business she’s been getting lately (you tell her you’re excited for her and she softens slightly- success!).

Abruptly, she stops. The two of you are in front of an iron fence, next to what looks like a tool shed that’s way past its prime.

“this is the PLACE” she states. You have your doubts- what could be in a dilapidated tool shed that possibly interests her- before you notice a small group of people lining up ahead of you. This place is... a private garden?

You move towards the queue before she grabs you roughly by the shoulder.

“no DUMMY” she lowers her voice, conspiratorially, “we’re SNEAKING IN!”

She moves to shift some boards away from the windows of the shed before squeezing through the empty space she left behind. You look around, making sure you aren’t being watched, before following her.

It’s really dusty in here, and dark too. She grabs you by the hand to lead you to the exit- you’re blushing a little bit, but you know better than to read too deeply into her actions. Luckily for the two of you, the exit is just a door that was left unlocked.

Outside, the gardens are peaceful and quiet. There aren’t many trolls here, it’s still early, but the few trolls that  are around are keeping their voices low, observing all of the different species of plant-life. You notice a few hen-like birds scuttling around like they own the place, but the trolls give them their space. You decide to follow suit.

This place is... definitely a change of pace from what you’re used to. Especially with Konyyl- who knew she had a soft side? You smile up at her, curious, but she’s busy searching for something, her head swiveling from side to side, ears pointed forward.

“THERE!” She calls, pointing towards a pit full of huge red and yellow flowers. They’re all kept behind what appears to be a cage- upon closer inspection, the flowers have thorns and spines and what appear to be sharp teeth. Carnivorous plants? This is definitely more Konyyl’s pace.

You notice the meat dispenser nearby, and, after fiddling with it (you’re suddenly immensely grateful towards Tagora for teaching you about Alternian currency), you return to her side with a plate full of raw meat. She picks up a smaller morsel and tosses it into the middle of the pit, watching with amusement as the plants turn towards it, bustling and knocking each other out of the way in order to be the first one to it. It’s actually very entertaining, in a gruesome, morbid sort of way. She laughs, delighted, and turns to you expectantly. Oh, you guess she wants you to try now?

You pick up another piece (ew, it’s kind of slimy) and throw it towards the center of the plants. You miss your mark by a few feet, but the end result is the same- more plants shifting over, tangling around each other and savagely hurling themselves forward. Konyyl watches intently, laughing as one plant uproots another using its teeth and manages to hurl it toward you. You can see the humor in it- they are all kind of clumsy and silly and you’re starting to see that these plants are almost cute. In a savage, jackal kind of way.

Out of nowhere, Konyyl stiffens, and grabs you protectively by the wrist. You listen, not hearing anything at first before you realize that the sounds of your combined laughter and the commotion of the plants have attracted the attention of some of the workers there. Oh fuck, you suddenly realize that the two of you have sneaked in here with out a ticket or the right bloodcaste to get out of it. She pulls you roughly forward, breaking into a run and nearly pulling your arm out of the socket- she’s surprisingly fast for how big she is. You struggle to keep up with her, stumbling over your feet before she roughly pulls you up and hauls you up onto her back, piggy back style. You busy yourself with swatting at any vines that get in your way and, with your newer, higher vantage point, help direct her to the tool shed that the two of you crawled through earlier without attracting the attention of the guests. Thankfully, today seems to be an off day, you only notice two or three groups of trolls. 

Once the two of you run out of the shed (you rip the hem of your shirt on the way through the window, damn), down the street, and a few blocks away, she drops you unceremoniously on the grass outside, growing still and listening for the sounds of pursuit. When she looks back at you, signaling the all clear, you can’t help yourself. You start giggling, which snowballs into the two of you laughing in earnest- her loud guffaws mixing with your more exhilarated, breathless laughter until you’re both sitting on the grass clutching your stomach.

Once your laughter dies down, she helps you back up to your feet. She gives you an odd look before rushing in to give you a quick kiss to the cheek. She looks away, crossing her arms and blushing, and you smile fondly at her. She’s really just... so cute.

You reach your hand to her face, standing on your tiptoes to reach up, holding her still, and you kiss her back, softly and fondly, on the cheek. She blushes a little harder, but some tension leaves her body in an exhale. She half turns to look at you, letting a small, vulnerable smile bleed through her guarded expression. Hell yeah. Best date ever.


	3. Chahut (Character Study)

You were 4 sweeps old when you first heard the holy words.

The snapping of bones, the screaming of the sinners. And you, with your tear streaked face, wishing you could take it all back.

The pastor had found you like this, alone in the pews and praying to your messiahs.  _It isn’t supposed to be like this,_ you had begged them.  _It’s not supposed to feel like this._

The pastor had knelt beside you, patient with her quiet voice and kind face. Her hand on your cheek had felt too solid to be anything but a dream. Too reassuring. And yet, there you were, sitting in a blood soaked pew and very much awake.

 _Chahut,_ she had said, her voice almost a whisper.  _The messiahs give those of us with great gifts the greatest challenges._

She was gone before you could parse her meaning.

__

The snapping of the fire snaps you back to reality. You reach forward to grab one of the bones from above the flames- some poor soul’s radius, with its little divot for the pivoting. 

You snap it in half and suck the boiling marrow from within as you study the scene. 

Seventeen trolls, their faces all twisted masks of pain and fear. The darkness of the night masks the light they are soon to face- after all, it is not your place on this mortal planet to judge. Leave that to the messiahs. Amen.

 _Great gifts,_ you think to yourself, turning back to the fire.

But the flames are dying without anything to sustain them, and perhaps it’s time for you to leave anyway.

As you turn on your heel, you do your best not to look back. The screams of those dead trolls seem to ring around you and throughout the forest.

 _Great challenges,_ you hear, a mockery inside your own head. What joy you will find in sleep tonight.


	4. Bronya / Reader

If you didn’t know her as well as you did, you might have missed it. 

But you notice it in small increments. The higher pitch of her voice, the set of her shoulders. Her anxious pacing. The weight of her world can’t be easy to bear. You’re relieved that she came here to you, so that you might help shoulder her burden.

For now, you content yourself with listening to her. Most of her jades at the caverns are entering what she calls a rebellious phase- being unhelpful, not taking their duties seriously, and so on. She explains that she’s doing her best to show everyone something they might like about being a jadeblood- the zen of cleaning for some, playing with the older grubs for others. Still, some are not responding well to her methods.

She goes on for a while, before finally pausing to run an anxious hand through her hair.

“This is silly, isn’t it?” she asks you with a small, shy smile. You shake your head no, before reaching out for her, grabbing her by the tips of her fingers to encourage her into your space.

With this, she finally lets it all out. It starts with a shuddering exhale, her hands fisting in the fabric of your shirt as her head moves to rest comfortably on your collar. You hum at her for a few minutes, stroking her hair and rubbing her shoulders, and she finally lets out her silent tears of frustration. You’re touched that you get to see her like this, that she trusts you enough to let you help her pick up the pieces. She wipes her tears subtly on your shirt, and you politely pretend not to notice.

You start swaying with her instead, bouncing a little on the balls of your feet. She stifles a little laugh behind her hand as you dance your slow, meandering way to the couch behind you.

You plop down with a little ‘oof,’ your breath leaving you as she follows you down. You lay on your back and draw her up to your chest, struggling to maneuver her in such a way that doesn’t impale your jugular with one of her horns. Eventually, the two of you settle down into a comfortable silence, her even breath cool and comfortable against the skin of your neck. She’s a comfortable weight against your chest and resting on your belly.

With a smirk, an idea hits you. You sneak your hands under her shirt to rub at the tense muscles between her shoulders. Where her skin is cool and tense, your hands are warm and soft. In a few minutes, she’s melting against you, relaxing and purring with the tiniest goofy smile. It’s the kind of smile that you would have never guessed suited her face, but, during the times you notice it’s absence, it almost feels like none of her other expressions suit her nearly as well.

You nuzzle up against her face, bumping her nose with yours and smiling back at her, brighter than the sun. As she’s distracted, you go in for the kill. Your fingers dance along her sides as you tickle her, her laugh infectious. She pushes her hands against you, trying to get away, but it’s halfhearted. As she draws back, you move forward, blowing raspberries against the skin of her neck.

It takes a few minutes, but you do finally settle down. She looks down at you from her position splayed across your body. Her hair has spilled out from behind her ear, and you move to place it back right as she closes her eyes and moves to kiss you. The first brush of her lips against yours is so serene that you feel like you’re dreaming. The second brush of her lips against your nose is so sweet and cute that you can feel the smile radiating from within your heart and throughout your whole body. The third and final brush of her lips against your forehead is filled with a shy sort of gratitude. And if you didn’t know her as well as you did, you might have missed it. 


	5. Galekh / Reader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt was 'trying to pull on clothes with damp skin.'

 

You didn’t expect your evening to end with Galekh half dangling out the window.

He holds his hand out to you, one leg already steady on the fire escape that you’d previously failed to notice. 

“It’s... I’ve realized that we never had an official first date. A proper one,” he says this confident as can be, but you see the blush on his face. You acquiesce to him, nodding your head as you reach for his hand.

He pulls you onto the fire escape after him- the height makes you dizzy but the cool breeze of the early morning soothes your nerves. You trust him.

You follow him up the iron stairs and onto his roof- and who would have ever thought that Galekh Xigisi would have gone for a thrill like this. You aren’t even all the way up, and yet the view takes your breath away. With each story you climb, the rolling hills that surround his hive draw into view. The moonlight shines off of the early morning dew in the grass, sparkling as the grass bobs and dances in the breeze. Wow, he really has an eye for romantic scenery.

He maneuvers himself behind you as you finally approach the roof top, covering your eyes with his hands. It’s thrilling- where your face is hot, his hands are comfortably cool. His breath washes against your temple as he nuzzles his nose against your face, and then again behind your ear as he helps you move forward before he removes his hands from you.

As you take in the scene before you, a smile forms on your face. It’s all just so... Galekh. He’s set up little fairy lights all around the perimeter, and he’s rolled out a round carpet of sorts. In one corner is a small radio, playing a soft waltz.

You turn back to face him- the delight from your face must be evident, as he reflects it back on you almost instantly. 

“I’m not sure if you know how to dance...” he trails off. You don’t.

“I can teach you,” he says, his gaze steady on yours as his eyes grow heavy. Oh fuck. He grabs your hand and places it on his bicep, placing his other hand solidly down on your waist.

He teaches you the waltz first. For all that he lacks in fluidity he makes up for in a surprising sort of lumbering grace. You stumble on your feet at first as the two of you get used to the length of each other’s stride. But soon enough, you find your rhythm together. The gentle swaying of your dancing has your eyes growing heavy- it’s very early in the morning, you realize. The sun should be up in about an hour. You move a little closer to him, then, letting him take some of your weight as you lay your head on his chest, wrapping both of your arms around his waist. He catches on, and he wraps his one arm tighter around you as his other hand finds your head. He draws you under his chin as he soothes and strokes at your hair.

He doesn’t get to teach you anything second. The first drop of rain hits him square on his glasses with a ridiculous, solid ‘thwap.’ He removes his hand from your head before he removes his glasses from his face, frustrated. He wipes his lenses on his tie before the rain starts coming down in earnest.

You start laughing as you get soaked through and through. He takes off his jacket in an attempt to shield you from the onslaught, and he bustles you forward in a hurry. As you make your way down the stairs of the fire escape, he keeps his arm around you. He explains that he’d feel awful if you fell.

“Start feeling bad,” you tease him. “I fell for you a long time ago,” you say with a cheeky grin. He groans at your lame joke, but you see the laughter in his eyes.

You step inside his window and then you slide and fall right on your ass as you step onto his hardwood floors. You scramble to stand before he steps inside behind you, but ultimately he has to help you up anyway with a deep, rumbling laugh. He’s soaked- the curls of his hair are slicked to his forehead. He tries drying his glasses on his wet clothes out of habit, grunting in frustration when that obviously doesn’t help. So he sets them aside, removing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt. 

You do your best to suppress a blush- you know trolls don’t have the same sort of taboo around nudity, and you’ve seen him naked plenty of times, but still. As he removes his undershirt, you’re captivated with the way it sticks to his skin, sliding and clinging against him like a snake’s skin. The final slide of his undershirt over his head musses his hair, and your hands are begging you to go fix it for him. Or to muss it up even more.

He dries off with a towel before handing you one from by the fire. You undress as well, following him forward towards his recouperacoon. The towel is warm and dry against you, and you’re relieved. 

You end up stepping into his coon before he does, holding your arms out invitingly to him. He joins you with a shy smile, wrapping his arms around you solidly and you lay your head on his chest, wrapping your own arms around him. His heartbeat is slow and steady against your ear, and you hear the stuttered breathing deep in his chest as his purr starts up. You smile warmly as he kisses the crown of your head fondly and sweetly, and your eyes close as you fall asleep to the soft sound of his even breathing.


End file.
